Masuk had success prior to Murphy. It was 31-23 between 1992-96 and played in both the 1985 and '86 Class M final (it lost both).

Murphy helped transform the Panthers into a state power, though. In his second season, they stunned heavily favored Fitch to win the CIAC Class L title.

Masuk qualified for the state playoffs in 12 of Murphy's 16 seasons. It won three state titles in seven championship appearances. It also snared a league-high six South-West Conference titles.

Murphy takes over one of the SWC's most downtrodden programs. It's never qualified for states, and it has a 31-82 record over the last 11 seasons. Its only winning season during that stretch was in 2008 (6-5). It won three-or-less games in nine of those years.

New Milford has the second-largest program in the 14-team SWC. It had 757 boys in grades 9-12 during the 2011-12 school year. Only Newtown (888) has more.

The hire further alters the SWC landscape as earlier this month, Craig Bruno moved to Naugatuck after having great success at his alma mater, Bunnell of Stratford. Bruno coached Bunnell to both the league and Class L championship in 2006 and 2007.